New Year's Eve!

I don't know about you but we really enjoyed church! It's so fun to go to this ward and see people that we usually only see once a year. Our friend is no longer the bishop of the ward, but was called into the stake presidency. Fortunately, he was visiting the ward with his family so it was good to see him (and his whole family) again.

After church we went to Uncle Dan and Auntie Mary's house for their usual gathering. They were ready to feed us lunch and we were ready to eat. We do love the memories of their home and love!

Then we went back to Memere's house to hang out.

What a look!

We got this outfit from Lindsey Pilling (from home)

and had her wear it - 

but it was really small so she'll never wear it again.

So cute though.

We played lot of games together.

Just enjoyed each other.

For a nightly treat, Kemiah helped make popcorn.

It was yummy and just right!

Some people enjoyed coloring and drawing.

Naomi went to bed before everyone else,

and this is the only time I ever left her with a bottle.

She fell asleep before she finished it.

Sweet girl.

Just a game between Kevin and Marissa

What a full board.

They really enjoyed Junior Monopoly.

Same concepts but simplified.

Another favorite is electronic battleship.

They were in the other dome so get away from all the noise.

Another game - I think they used all the tiles this time.

We did stay up later than usual but not until midnight. Sleep is important so we eventually went to bed. Lots of good family fun!

Playing games and hanging out

Tamara and Felix stayed with us for part of the time while they were visiting Saginaw. It was so fun to have them here. The younger girls loved playing with Felix and we all enjoyed talking with Tamara or playing games. She always has great games to play. 

Friday night, Kevin was able to Facetime with Steve on Tamara's phone and it was good to catch up with him, too. I guess we should be better about staying in touch... I'll work on that.

They left this morning and we were all sad. Camdilyn asked about playing with Felix tomorrow. I'll have to distract her somehow.

Thanks again for coming out to see us and spending time with us and sharing with us! We love you guys!

The day after the birthday excitement!

She is loving the idea of reading!

She is also loving climbing on most anything.

Today she put them together as she climbed onto the ottoman

to do some reading.

Done with school and breaking out the Star Wars Chess!

Thought I should capture her black eye.

She ran into a door knob on a door that a sibling was shutting.

Yowch! The door knob got her right on the eye brow.

It happened a couple days ago,

so this is how it looks now.

Moved on to Star Wars Clue!

Naomi loves this doll.

Mainly for the full head of hair!

She sat at the bottom of the stairs for quite a while, 

just holding the doll and sucking her thumb.

Sunday afternoon

She couldn't stay awake any longer.

She brought her blankets down,

along with Brownie, the horse,

and I told her she could sit in my pink chair.

So that's what she did.

They were enjoying a game of Risk Europe,

It turns out it's better if you have more than two players.

And some of us just like to read.

Settlers of America

 I guess it was a good game. Ben was playing with some of his sisters and so he wanted to record it for all time. I'm glad they enjoy playing games together.

A few fun random shots

We all love painting!

Harmonie enjoyed painting her new piggy bank.

Marissa liked helping.

We found eggs!

We don't know who laid them.

This should be interesting!

Teaching Uncle Chris the game of Civilization.

Doing the loom band thing!

Sound proud!

Last day crunch to get things done.

Chris helped Kevin put the lettering on his sign

for the office.

It looks great!

Not sure why I don't have a finished picture.

I really thought I took one.

Playing games

Camdilyn enjoys playing around Naomi.

The kids have enjoyed the extra adult to play games with.

Missing Piece

Kemiah and Domonique were playing a game, Don't Break the Ice. They had just set up the board again, but couldn't find the polar bear to set on top. We looked, and looked, assuming Harmonie had walked off with it and set it down some where. After several minutes of searching, I finally asked Harmonie, "Where did you put the polar bear?" To my surprise she tugged at her pants. Not really sure what she was doing I asked, Did you put the bear in your pants?" She sat down and pulled on her pants. Sure enough, the polar bear was in her pant leg, unable to fall out because she was wearing sweatpants. Silly girl. We were glad to have the polar bear back.

Mafia with the Younger Girls

My kids all enjoy playing Mafia with their cousins during family reunions. It's fun to play with larger groups, but the other night Kemiah had her heart set on playing the game. You'd think with the number of kids that I have we could play an okay game, but only a few of us were playing with her. She was the moderator, and passed out the papers that told us what we were: fox, hunter, or citizen. Domonique always shared what she was with everyone, so that was easy. Harmonie always raised her hand when I asked her to, so she was always with me. Poor Xiomara never had a chance. It was like nothing I have ever done before, and it may never happen that way again. I just laughed and enjoyed the moment with my younger girls, while I nursed the baby! (No pictures, sorry, I was a little busy.)